Two of the strongest teams in Europe this season will face each other, when Paris St Germain welcomes Liverpool to Parc des Princes in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16.
Both PSG and Liverpool are on their way to winning the Ligue 1 and Premier League titles. After crushing Lille with a score of 4-1, PSG was 13 points ahead of the second-placed team in Ligue 1. Meanwhile, Liverpool had a weekend break after being unexpectedly eliminated from the FA Cup by Plymouth Argyle last month. However, The Kop are currently 13 points behind second-placed teams in the Premier League.
This match also saw a confrontation between two of the best strikers in Europe this season.
Mohamed Salah is a certain candidate for the Ballon d'Or award with his spectacular campaign. Liverpool are a great team under Arne Slot, but Salah is their motivation. The Egyptian has had a hand in 52 goals in all competitions this season (30 goals, 22 assists).
Salah has been directly involved in 20 goals in 30 appearances in the Champions League qualifiers (12 goals, 8 assists). This is the most number for an African player in the history of the tournament (1 goal more than Samuel Eto'o and Didier Drogba).
For PSG, Ousmane Dembele is filling the void left by Kylian Mbappe in attack. The former Barcelona winger is finally able to reach his full potential. He scored 26 goals in all competitions for PSG, along with 6 assists.
Salah has surpassed his expected goals (xG) by 26, scoring about 4 more than expected based on the quality of the chances. However, Dembele even surpasses his own 19.5 xG (more than 6.5). This shows the Frenchman's impressive finishing ability whether playing on the right wing or as a centre-forward.
Since the beginning of 2025, Dembele has made a strong impression. The Frenchman scored an average of 1.87 goals per 90 minutes and contributed an average of 1.97 goals per 90 minutes.
Head-to-head record
This is only the third time Liverpool and PSG have met in the Champions League.
The two teams have previously faced each other in the group stage of the 2018-2019 season, when Liverpool won 3-2 at home and lost 1-2 away. Therefore, the current head-to-head record is equal.
Liverpool have not won any of their last 5 away matches against French teams in the European Cup (2 draws, 3 losses). Their most recent win came against Marseille in September 2008 (2-1 in the Champions League).
However, Slot is unbeaten against French sides in European competition, having won two of his three and drawn one.
The match between PSG and Liverpool takes place at 3:00 am on March 6 (Vietnam time).
